Balloon catheters are widely used for balloon angioplasty and stenting, to help keep a blood vessel or any other tubular body conduits open. For exemplary purposes only, the present invention will be described with respect to blood vessels as an example for any tubular body conduit suitable for balloon angioplasty and stenting.
Balloon angioplasty usually involves the insertion of the balloon catheter to the blood vessel. This procedure is usually followed by stenting, the insertion of a balloon catheter with a stent which is implemented in the blood vessel to prevent restonosis. The stent can be any suitable stent such as the stent described in Coassigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/029,493, now abandoned. Typically, the balloon is inflated in a desired location in the blood vessel, thereby implementing the stent. Then the balloon catheter is deflated and pulled out of the blood vessel.
Prior art balloon catheters are usually tubular with a portion of the catheter capable of being inflated in a desired part of the blood vessel. The balloons of prior art balloon catheters are typically straight.
A drawback of prior art balloon catheters is their lack of flexibility. Usually, when a prior art balloon catheter is inserted, with or without a stent, into an arched blood vessel it reshapes the blood vessel such that it looses its arch like shape and becomes more rectangular. This loss of the arch-like shape may damage the blood vessel and may create undesired problems in the blood circulation.